Jared Steele Presents His Pitch On Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 4
Highlights
- Jared Steele appears on Shark Tank Season 16, pitching for Terrashroom.
- The Sharks love the product’s innovative design but are concerned about shipping and valuation.
- The entrepreneur received just one offer from a prominent investor.
Overview
| Category | Details |
| Name | Terrashroom |
| Founder | Jared Steele |
| Industry | Fungiculture |
| Product | Mushroom growing chamber |
| Funding | Self-funded |
| Investment Ask | $175K |
| Equity Offered | 2.5% |
| Valuation | $7 million |
Hailing from Austin, Jared Steele is an aspiring entrepreneur who pitches ‘Terrashroom’ in Shark Tank Season 16 Episode 4. Jared starts his presentation by discussing the growing popularity of mushrooms. According to the entrepreneur, the culinary delicacy offers great health and cognitive benefits.
Despite their goodness, mushrooms are not easily found in grocery stores, and growing them on your own can be even harder. This is why Jared created Terrashroom, a fully automated mushroom-growth computer that helps anyone, anywhere, grow lab-quality mushrooms.
The founder claims that the process does not require any prior experience and can be done from the comfort and safety of your home. Giving a video demo, he says that all you need to do is turn it on, fill up the water tank, and place the ready-to-grow mushroom block inside the Terrashroom.
The entrepreneur adds that by using the Terrashroom app, you can select the mushroom of your choice.
Terrashroom: What Happened On Shark Tank Season 16
Jared enters Shark Tank, seeking $175K for 2.5% equity in his company. Lori Greiner thinks the idea is ‘cool.’ Daniel Lubetzky wants to know if the company offers the grow chamber/grow computer along with the mushrooms. Jared replies with a ‘yes’ and explains his business model.
Terrashroom follows a ‘print and ink cartridge’ model. It sells the grow chamber for $399. On the back end, there is a subscription through which it sells ready-to-grow mushroom cakes for $30 per unit.
Lori wants the price of making the units. The entrepreneur says it is $158. Lori also inquires about the cost of the mushroom block. It is $3.51. Jared says this is where they make a ‘lot of cash.’
Robert Herjavec asks about the duration of a mushroom block transforming into a fruiting body. The entrepreneur replies, saying that it depends on the variety. Some of them, like oysters, take seven days, whereas, reishi takes a longer period of six weeks.
Jared adds that some people view the product as a ‘functional piece’ due to the mood lighting and the embedded time-lapse camera. Having it is more like a ‘brag point’ on social media.
Lori feels Jared is a ‘mushroomologist.’ The latter replies he is a ‘mycologist.’ Daniel thinks he is a ‘pretty bright guy’ and then inquires about his background. Jared responds, saying it started seven years ago while he was in college and was growing mushrooms in his dorm.
Driven by his natural interest in mushrooms, he decided to get into product building. He bought 3D printers, learned CAD modeling, basic microelectronics, and started the venture as a hackathon project. This passion has helped him gain 6500 customers to date and 22,500 on the email waitlist.
Terrashroom was started in August 2022. Jared began by running ads on Facebook. Since then, the company has generated $780K in revenue without shipping. Mark Cuban stops him and asks about the sale of 6500 units. Jared says it was ‘presales.’
Robert comments, ‘You didn’t say that.’ Plus, he wanted to know about the entrepreneur taking 708,000 preorders in two years and not shipping a single product. Robert was shocked that he kept selling and shipping any. Mark feels it is ‘horrible’ only if they do not deliver.
Robert says, ‘it’s been two years.’ Mark responds by saying that the company has not been collecting money for two years, but Robert thinks he has been getting the money.
Reacting to Robert’s questions, the entrepreneur replies that they have overengineered the product. So, they did not want to ship hundreds of them and get refund problems.
Kevin O’Leary wants to know when he will ship the first thousand units. Jared replies that the company will be shipping 1,140 units to its Austin warehouse by July.
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Did Terrashroom Get A Deal?
Mark is the first one to opt out of the deal. He thinks the idea is ‘cool,’ but the entrepreneur is unprepared to deliver yet, which means there is ‘uncertainty and terror.’ Daniel is out due to the high valuation. Robert thinks Terrashroom is a ‘beautifully designed product’ but chooses not to invest due to concerns about shipping.
Lori loves ‘hydroponic farming’ but does not make a deal due to the product being ‘overengineered.’ Kevin says, ‘All fungi lead to Mr. Wonderful.’ He makes an offer of $175K for 15% equity. Lori thinks Jared is ‘not ready’ to take on an investor. The two of them have a small argument after this.
Jared feels he can offer 5% equity. Kevin is out of the deal on hearing this. So, Terrashroom failed to get a deal on Shark Tank Season 16.
See what else is new! View other businesses featured in this episode.
